The following piece from Paul Fitzpatrick in the Irish Times of July 25.
Picture this. You’re a weary, ink-stained secondary school student, trudging down the corridor with your satchel on your back, algebraic formulas and the Modh Coinniollach ringing in your ears. Suddenly you brighten up. Next class? Hurling!
That’s the proposition envisaged by National Hurling Development Officer, Martin Fogarty. A Swedish teacher, seeing hurling for the first time, remarked to him some years ago that it should be on the national curriculum.
Now, Fogarty wants to see it through.
‘Why do we study wars and battles and people killing each other? Why don’t we study something that’s alive. It’s like our Irish dancing or our Irish music. You take art. Why do we paint pictures in schools? Why do we play a tin whistle? Why not hurling?’ he asked.
‘I would love to see a situation where it’s a Leaving Cert subject where you could get points in your exam for playing the game, coaching the game, or maybe just knowing the whole history of the game.’
It’s a novel idea.
Now, how long before the Cats are hoovering up Ph.Ds at the same rate as they are Celtic Crosses?
